The Values That Make Me The Person I Have Become.

What is a value and what is the meaning? When I asked that question to some of my colleagues, they all gave me different answers; some said it is a belief and others said it is a philosophy. Whether we are aware of them or not, everyone has their own core set of values. Some as simple as my belief in hard work and punctuality and some buried deep within, such as my psychological belief of self-reliance. Without values or beliefs we would become a race of animals; only compelled to action by our animal urges and passions. Although, in my sorted past, I’m sure many will agree that I acted without values or beliefs; that I was just an animal acting on my urges and passions.
What values guide my life? If someone would have asked me this question several years ago, I would have given a completely different answer. Thinking back, I use to be driven by the will to succeed and hard work. The values my grandfathers instilled in me when I was a teenager; Integrity and hard work was the key of success. I recall my grandfather telling me that it does not matter what you’re doing, you do it better than anyone else. My memories of mowing the Ottawa Indian cemetery as a young boy, I would mow and hand clip around every headstone, striving to be the best mower. The early years of working in the clothing factory, I became the fastest material spreader that the company ever had, sitting new standards and goals for others. Now that I have matured and aged not so gracefully, my values have changed drastically. That change came when I placed a ring on my wonderful wife’s finger and said I do. She showed me the love of family and faithfulness; she shared with me her children and blessed me with two of our own. The day that my first child was born, I cried, the emotion was so much bigger than I had ever expected; when I cut the cord and held her in my arms, the smell of a newborn will stay with me forever.
When faced with a difficult decision, what leads me to choose one action over another? Approximately twenty years ago, I left the police department and took a job as the emergency preparedness officer for the city and local hospitals. One night while in the shower I could hear on my police scanner a high speed chase taking place; not paying much attention, I knew it was a sheriff’s deputy who happened to be my high school classmate. While toweling myself dry, I hear the sirens getting very close then I hear a crash, startled! I threw on a pair of shorts and went to the front door. While standing on the porch I could hear some screams then I hear a shot fired; without thinking I started running up the street toward the shots fired. While running toward the scene another shot was fired; I then saw one sheriff’s deputy on the ground and one fighting with a suspect who had a gun in his hand. I never slowed down I plowed into the suspect with all my force. Luckily, the gunman did not get to fire another shot; the surprise of some half naked man coming out of the darkness and knocking him to the ground, was all it took for me to get him handcuffed. After assessing the scene I notified the police dispatcher of the officers down and our location; I took care of the most severely injured deputy until the arrival of the ambulance, they both survived. Later that night after the statements and reports, sitting in my home, I wondered why I acted the way I did. Why not just mind my own business; why would I put my own safety at risk? The answer has to be my honor, integrity and concern for others, important values that my grandfathers passed onto me at an early age. Values are very special powers, one in which our mind uses for the purpose of uplifting our life, making us human and not an animal.